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Almanac - Monday 12/2/19

2014-Year in review-wheelchair basketball, by flickr user Penn State

Today is Play Basketball Day...

Today is Monday, the 2nd of December of 2019.

It is the 336th day of the year.

29 days remain until the end of the year....

19 days until winter begins

92 days until primaries

Tuesday March 03 2020

(3 months and 1 day from today)

337 days until presidential elections

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

(11 months and 1 day from today)

The sun rises this morning at 7:08 am 

and sunset will be at 4:51 pm.

We will have 9 hours and 43 minutes of daylight.

The solar transit will be at 11:59 am.

The first high tide will be at 4:44 am 

and the next high tide at 2:57 pm.

The first low tide will be at 9:50 am 

and the next low tide at 9:53 pm.

The Moon is 33.7% visible; a Waxing Crescent

Moon Direction: 343.56° NNW↑

Moon Altitude:-69.76°

Moon Distance: 248500 mi

Next Full Moon: Dec 11, 20199:12 pm

Next New Moon: Dec 25, 2019 9:13 pm

Next Moonrise: Today 12:11 pm

Today is…

Business of Popping Corn Day

Cyber Monday

National Fritters Day

National Mutt Day

Play Basketball Day

Safety Razor Day

Special Education Day

Today is also…

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

National Day (Laos)

National Day (United Arab Emirates)

1971 – Abu DhabiAjmanFujairahSharjahDubai, and Umm al-Quwain form the United Arab Emirates.

On this day in history…

1763 – Dedication of the Touro Synagogue, in Newport, Rhode Island, the first synagogue in what will become the United States.

In 1816, the first savings bank in the United States, the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, opened for business.

1823 – Monroe Doctrine: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James Monroe proclaims American neutrality in future European conflicts, and warns European powers not to interfere in the Americas.

1845 – Manifest destiny: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James K. Polk proposes that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.

1865 – Alabama ratifies 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, followed by North Carolina then Georgia, and U.S. slaves were legally free within two weeks

1908 – Puyi becomes Emperor of China at the age of two. 1927 – Following 19 years of Ford Model T production, the Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Model A as its new automobile.

1939 – New York City's LaGuardia Airport opens.

1942 – World War II: During the Manhattan Project, a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.

1949 – Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others is adopted.

1954 – Cold War: The United States Senate votes 65 to 22 to censure Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute".

1956 – The Granma reaches the shores of Cuba's Oriente ProvinceFidel CastroChe Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement disembark to initiate the Cuban Revolution.

In 1969, the Boeing 747 jumbo jet got its first public preview as 191 people, most of them reporters and photographers, flew from Seattle to New York City.

In 1970, the newly created Environmental Protection Agency opened its doors under its first director, William D. Ruckelshaus.

In 1980, four American churchwomen were raped and murdered in El Salvador. (Five national guardsmen were convicted in the killings.)

In 1982, in the first operation of its kind, doctors at the University of Utah Medical Center implanted a permanent artificial heart in the chest of retired dentist Dr. Barney Clark, who lived 112 days with the device.

1988 – Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state.

1999 – The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive following the Good Friday Agreement.

2001 – Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

2016 – Thirty-six people die in a fire at a converted Oakland, California, warehouse serving as an artist collective.

…and if today is your birthday, happy birthday to you!  You share this special day with…

1863 – Charles Edward Ringling, American businessman, co-founded the Ringling Brothers Circus (d. 1926)

1923 – Maria Callas, American-Greek soprano and actress (d. 1977)

1924 – Alexander Haig, American general and politician, 59th United States Secretary of State (d. 2010)

1925 – Julie Harris, American actress (d. 2013)

1931 – Wynton Kelly, American pianist and composer (d. 1971)

1931 – Edwin Meese, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 75th United States Attorney General

1939 – Harry Reid, American lawyer and politician, 25th Lieutenant Governor of Nevada

1946 – David Macaulay, English-American author and illustrator

Actress Cathy Lee Crosby is 75.

1946 – Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer, founded Versace (d. 1997)

1948 – T. Coraghessan Boyle, American novelist and short story writer

1948 – Patricia Hewitt, Australian-English educator and politician, Secretary of State for Health

1963 – Ann Patchett, American author

1968 – Lucy Liu, American actress and producer

International Tennis Hall of Famer Monica Seles is 46.

1978 – Nelly Furtado, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

1981 – Britney Spears, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress